I have created some 15 LOTs for a cobblestone plaza. How can I now put them into a single file containing the texture file and all the LOTs? Like e.g. this park or canal stuff where you need to install only one dat file but in game you have all the different puzzle pieces available? Right now I have 16 single files in my plugin folder (15 different plaza LOTs and one texture file).
Thanks!
maybe with winrar
No, I'm sorry builderbuiltoff, that won't work.
Instead, I will post a step by step tutorial, right here.
1. Start by arranging the files you want to put in your package. Place them in one folder, in your SimCity4 plugins folder. Any SimCity4 file can be DATPacked. Other files, like readmes or jpegs will be ignored by the program.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi597.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt56%2Fjoelyboy911%2FTutorial0.jpg&hash=8fac50ace65df0fa27a563da6de3ab270e53e2cf)
2. Open The DATPacker
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi597.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt56%2Fjoelyboy911%2FTutorial2.jpg&hash=b517740dae2412f42d4b95253bd077c5655e6a45)
3. You will see this image - wait while DATPacker gets ready.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi597.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt56%2Fjoelyboy911%2FTutorial1.jpg&hash=2bc4f2792a38dbeca692c06f8eac36ca9f916e2b)
4. DATPacker opens, like so.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi597.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt56%2Fjoelyboy911%2FTutorial3.jpg&hash=77a56598abbc01e6e7ab2a41a724fb897d288b44)
5. Find in the DATPacker list, the folder in which you put the files you want in your DAT.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi597.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt56%2Fjoelyboy911%2FTutorial4.jpg&hash=39bc2c56bb2316667e6f6694696448cefc9b558a)
6. You are able to change the place it saves the DAT to. I called it JLY Park Set for the purpose of this tutorial. This is the folder in which your DAT will be saved.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi597.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt56%2Fjoelyboy911%2FTutorial5.png&hash=aa0af4bb736cfac11b493e50432d224444ed4948)
7. Hit "Start" in the DATPacker. This window will appear. It shows the progress of the packing. For a small number of files it is very fast. (I datpacked an empty folder to make this - sorry)
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi597.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt56%2Fjoelyboy911%2FTutorial6.jpg&hash=dc551a2dcff26d2363f9afcceee399dcf6952c13)
8. Navigate to the folder you specified earlier, where your DAT is saved. You can see that the filename of the DAT is the name of the subfolder your files were originally in.
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi597.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Ftt56%2Fjoelyboy911%2FTutorial7.jpg&hash=4d8d81c2e6b383532045f3e047f46ec4da75a028)
I hope this helps!
joelyboy, thanks, I already have the datpacker but thought that compressing the plugin files with the datpacker was something different than creating the initial "unpacked" file. SO now I've learned that datpacking the plugins directory is just a second step of the same process.
Thanks!
Indeed. You're quite welcome.
The process of DATPacking your plugins is exactly the same as DATPacking a set for release. You just don't pack everything.
I might post this tutorial somewhere else entitled: "DATPacking for people who don't DATPack"
Not sure what category it might go under...